Skylar Diggins is coming off the bench after starting all 19 games, a move she said on Monday caught her off guard and still does not make sense to her. She said Tyler Marsh told her she would not remain in the starting lineup, and she reacted online with a blunt post: “Now I’m coming off the bench?????? Cool.”
That is the immediate reason her name is being searched today. Diggins said at practice that she and Marsh had not spoken since Friday, and that the change landed without warning after she had been the team’s starting point guard. The move comes while the Sky sit at 6-14, with every lineup choice carrying extra weight.
Marsh called the move a coach’s decision and declined to say who would start in Diggins’ place. He also said he and his staff are still weighing whether the change is short-term or long-term, which leaves the role shift open-ended even after the decision itself has been made.
Diggins did not soften her response. She said there have been “tons” of miscommunication since she arrived in Chicago in April, and that she still does not understand why the change was made. She said that, after nearly 400 games in the league, she has been through enough roster changes to know a decision is a decision — but also said she has given the team everything asked of her and has kept her professionalism intact.
The friction is not new. Diggins said in June, after an ugly loss to Tempo, that the Sky had a “loser mentality” and needed more maturity and leadership, including from the coaches. She also said the environment has not given the team everything it needs to succeed, and she pointed to the strain of playing through a knee surgery she had in October.
That broader backdrop matters because the role change is landing in a season already marked by instability. The Sky ownership had said a dedicated practice facility in Bedford Park would be ready by the start of the season, then pushed that timeline to late spring. Until that facility is ready, the team has been moving between UIC, Loyola and Wintrust Arena, a patchwork setup that leaves little room for routines to settle.
Diggins said she had expected different support and different conditions, but the larger question now is simpler: whether Marsh is making a temporary adjustment or a deeper reset. For a veteran who says she has been elite for decades and has been sacrificing her body for this team, the answer will define more than one game.
